October 20, 2021.
Dr. Mark Rollo of Fitchburg, MA, wrote a letter to the editors of the Sentinel and Enterprise and the Lowell Sun that was published on October 9, 2021 about proposed assisted suicide bill “An Act Relative to End of Life Options” [H2381/S1384].
Dr. Rollo calls out the tragic irony that the Massachusetts Legislature is considering a bill that would punish people who encourage others to commit suicide* and simultaneously deliberate on legalizing assisted suicide, which empowers physicians to prescribe lethal drugs so that some individuals can end their own lives. Further, it is statistically proven that suicide rates rise in areas where assisted suicide is legal.
In Oregon, where state-sanctioned assisted suicide has been legal since 1997, the general suicide rate was almost double the national average during the first decade after implementation among people age 35 to 64.
Read the rest of the letter about the inherent discrimination of the issue, Dr. Rollo’s forceful reproach of the euphemistic title of the bill, and his concern about the negative impact of legalizing assisted suicide on the trust between healthcare professionals and their patients: https://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/2021/10/09/letter-end-of-life-bill-would-be-a-disaster/
Read more: Doctors Submit Letter to the Boston Globe: Debate over assisted suicide renewed in Mass.
*Conrad’s Law (S1032)